I attended your panel at PAX South, on game audio/sound design, and just wanted to thank you for what was one of the most encouraging panels I’ve ever been to at a PAX convention. I’m a pencil artist, but also a musician, and often get pulled between the two. It’s talks like yours that make me lean in the direction of audio.

— John Ingalls, Artist and Composer

Akash, just wanted to let you know that of the several panels I attended at PAX Prime this year, by far your panel was the best in terms of providing real actionable advice for people who want to sink into the topic. Thanks to you and the others for doing it.

— Stacey Ross, Composer

I’ve got a grip on most of the game development process, but sound design is absolutely not one of my talents. That’s why, for Ironclad Tactics, we brought in Akash! Some sound designers merely ask for a list of assets to deliver, but Akash worked with us to figure out what we needed, created great sound effects, found and coordinated great voice actors, tweaked things until they were perfect, and managed the whole process from start to finish. Exactly what I’d hoped for, and more!

— Zach Barth, Zachtronics Industries

After seeing Akash and his fellow panelists speak at PAX, I immediately reached out to a gaming dev group I knew of, and am currently finalizing a deal to join the sound design team of my first game project. I couldn’t be more excited for this new step in my career. So thank you once again, for inspiring me, and for helping me consider a career in game audio as possible. Tuns out, it’s surprisingly possible.

— Mike Stanton, Multimedia Audio Designer

This past year at PAX East, I attended a panel run by composer Akash Thakkar, which was all about videogame music. I expected to learn a little about how game composers do their thing, but what I got was a ton of motivation and amazing advice on how to break into the industry. Akash was really friendly and helpful; he answered so many aspiring VG composers’ questions and gave such great advice on how to network with game developers, on the best orchestral sounds to use in recordings, on just about everything! He openly invited everyone in attendance to email him and ask for advice. Not only is he an amazing composer, he is also a great mentor and so willing to impart his wisdom on aspiring composers. Soon after his panel, I landed my first gig as a game composer. I can’t thank Akash enough. So glad I attended his panel!

— A.C Menes, Composer, Performer, and Educator

In my role coordinating events for Berklee students, I have worked with Akash many times. He is an engaging presenter, and is extremely knowledgable about game music and sound design. For our networking event, he collaborated at a high level with Berklee department chairs and directors, organizing and moderating a panel event with audio and art directors of Bioshock, adding tremendous value to the networking event.

— Chris Fitzgerald, Seawolf Studios

At Berklee, Akash was remarkable at giving back to the community. His leadership with our Video Game Music Club was outstanding, sharing his wealth of knowledge through many presentations and organizing events. Because of his friendliness and positive attitude, it was always a pleasure to work with him. I highly recommend Akash and believe his creative endeavors will help shape our industry in the future.

— Michael Sweet, Video Game Scoring Artistic Director, Berklee College of Music